Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt Romney
by They don't want me back Jan 2012
"You know, I think it's about envy. I think it's about class warfare," the leading Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday on The Today Show.
Let the Mormon side show it's true colors.
yours_truly
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
Envy is a suppressed feeling, based at least partly on injustice in society. It is often a fully understandable feeling, but not constructive to dwell in - and it can be destructive, and be a basis for viollence. However, if we want to be constructive (we others who never ever have experienced envy of course...) we could try and understand why the envy, and be sensitive about it, and try to adjust the injustice in the society. Therefore, with much economic difference, it is understandable that envy exist about it, and we should try to make the differences lesser...
It's as simple as that, and no need to be so shameful about envy, since it exists for the purpose of control of self, control of environment around us, to be constructive personally and as society: envy always is rooted in some elements of sometimes severe injustice...
They don't want me back
Isn't his calling those who don't agree with him just like
the Mormon Church describing departing members as to lazy to pay the price of membership, sinners or offended.
He's not privy to what motivates me.
I am not envious of him or his wealth, I would just like to be able to earn a decent living and get paid a living wage.
I resent him making moral judgment, this from a guy who has never struggled to get by.
summer
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
I've found during my life that as people acheive a certain high income level, they develop a sort of amnesia. They forget what it's like for the rest of us. I don't think Mitt ever knew for a second what it's like. That worries me. He has no clue whatsoever.
There's a reason why the terms 1% and 99% have come into our cultural consciousness. After the current recession, the middle class, such as it is, feels a whole lot more vulnerable. We (collectively) lost our jobs and our homes. We lost any sense of prosperity. There no longer seems to be a clear connection between education, hard work, and economic success. We seem to be the playthings of the rich and powerful.
The concept of "too big to fail" came into being. We can fail, but the rich and powerful are too big to fail. Corporations get bailed out by us (the government.) Corporate CEO's who mess up get multi-million dollar send-offs.
Those of us of a certain generation remember a time when corporations did not lay off people nearly so readily. It was considered to be a shameful thing. Corporations had a far greater sense of responsibility to their employees than they do at present.
I'm a public schoolteacher. I didn't go into this profession expecting to get rich, but neither did I expect to be poor. For the past five years, I can pay my bills, barely, but there is no real prosperity. And with all that, I'm aware that as an employed individual, I'm one of the lucky ones.
Yet every day I'm expected to get up in front of my students and sell them on the American dream. They can see my used car, and my inexpensive, utilitarian clothes, and they are underwhelmed by my "acheivements."
There is much in terms of student acheivement that is beyond my control. But the elites, the Mitt Romneys of the world feel comfortable in demonizing my profession. We are at fault; we are the bumbling, inefficient idiots. How nice for the elites. All I know is that as a schoolteacher, I did not drive our economy into the ground. I did not ruin honest, hard working people. I guess you have to be really special to do that.
Class envy? Try class anger. It would be nice if Mitt understood that. But I doubt if he ever will.
yours_truly
Re: Isn't his calling those who don't agree with him just like
"this from a guy who has never struggled to get by"
LOL
And speaking of social consciousness and such:
It's all about driving inner motivations: Mitt Romney's leads him to be insensitive about many others and apply the 'shame of envy'-card, to feel good about himself (and holding many others' inner powers locked up - since noone is interested in saying or doing anything that could possibly be interpreted to confirm them being 'envious' are they?).
en passant
Mitt was born on home plate...
...but he wants us to think he hit a home run to get there.
Outcast
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
Reminds me of former TX governor, Ann Richards roasting former Prez Bush at the 1988 Democratic Nat'l convention:
"He can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgeQ_y7LMRI
helamonster
Mitt is the result when the Mormon gospel of prosperity meets the wealthy sense of entitlement.
MFer Mitt actually believes that his being rich makes him morally superior to those who are not.
Most of the ultra-wealthy profess such a belief, but few actually believe it deep down in their shriveled, under-used hearts. Mitt actually seems to buy into it, hook, line and sinker.
That, more than ANYTHING else about him, is horrifying.
J. Chan
This country is going through tough times, but our tough times are
exacerbated by our immensely high standard of living, our unrealistic expectations and our materialism. We never use the term "working class" in this country anymore, even though many of the families we have shoehorned into the "middle class" are more properly classified as "working class." Unfortunately, we have convinced ourselves that being middle class is the minimum acceptable social classification and that being working class is synonymous with poverty and, worse, total lack of status.
I'm curious what you mean when you talk about the American Dream and why you contrast it with used cars and inexpensive clothes. The American Dream is not a nation where every man and woman is, or worse, appears to be, a bourgeois consumer. That version of the American Dream has brought us to where we are today. The American Dream is a world where students who receive the enormous privilege of a public education take that privilege seriously and listen to and value their teacher regardless what car that teacher drives or how much her clothes cost, and then go out in the world to do good and improve the lot of their fellow man rather than merely for material gain.
caedmon
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
Aren't all Mormons taught that all non-Mormon secretly envy them because they have the "truth", will be with their families forever, are showered with blessings from gawd, and are just so dang happy?
Devoted Exmo
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
The best part of this interview was when asked if we can't even have a conversation about income inequity without it being about envy, Mitt responded that yes, we can, but in "quiet rooms". I guess only the priesthood, at the temple, can muse over the problem. Now that *is* horrifying!
Itzpapalotl
Makes me think of this quote from "Fight Club"
"We were raised on television to believe
that we'd all be millionares, movie gods,
rock stars, but we won't. And we're
starting to figure that out...And we're very, very pissed off."
Don't get me wrong- I think people like Romney are mentally removed from what it's like to struggle financially. They have no clue what it's like to decide between paying the heating bill and not refilling a Rx. They have no idea how the poor are charged extra money to be poor!
I agree with a lot of what J. Chan states above. We Americans have a serious materialistic "Keep up with the Joneses" mentality. I'm flabbergasted when I see people drop several hundreds on the latest phone, TV, game console, brand name jeans and then bitch how they are broke and have no money for gas, food, or utilities.
I think many of the younger generation is especially pissed because they were told their whole lives: "Graduate from college and you won't have to flip burgers for a living." What they weren't taught was sometimes you have to do menial (translation HARD and DIRTY) work and you might be lucky if you find something great and makes you happy. I think Gen X is the last generation to really understand this simple truth. Maybe it's just my Gen X cynicism kicking in as well.
I've lived right above the poverty line off and on my whole life. It sucks to struggle and survive, but people like me and many of my friends do it. People, unfortunately even the middle class now, have to live within their means. If that means trading in a SUV for a compact, you do what you have to do, otherwise you are gasping for breath and nearly drowning.
honestone
Re: Isn't his calling those who don't agree with him just like
I think it is a big mistake to talk about being envious. Who is he kidding? WE are just dying to be like him? Hardly. He just thinks we are. He is arrogant and all knowing...gee, very Mormon of him.
honestone
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
That is right summer. And I agree with you about being a teacher. Not much pay for all the stress and put downs. So many changes each yr. in requirements for teachers and curriculum never stays the same for more than a couple yrs. And they wonder why the kids don't score high? Oh I could go on and on. The ave. person has no idea what teachers deal with in regards to administrators, etc. Romney has no clue about the middle class or lower socio-economic class. I don't like to say "class" really but that is the truth....he only understands wealth.
baura
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
Mitt began as a poor, connected multi-millionaire and, through hard work he became a multi-multi-millionaire. Any of us could do the same if we weren't so busy being envious.
dagny
That's a grand slam comment!
IDon'tCare
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
Moral judgments from:
Mr. Vulture Capitalist?
Mr. Liquidator?
Mr. Job Killer?
Mr. Money Worshiper?
Moral judgments from one who has no morals?
As Americans, are we blind? Or just stupid?
munchybotaz
That statement, more than any
The question was income inequality, and Matt Lauer actually suggested the right answer by asking MR if he thought it was about envy or fairness. But, in the moment, he said envy and then added insult to injury with class warfare. Then he went on about Obama, as if the president has invented and faked this whole thing where people are camping out in parks.
Ridiculous racist Mormonism aside, Mitt Romney is the worst smug, rich bastard ever. He has NO IDEA what the life of someone who isn't a millionaire is like. Worse yet, he doesn't seem to know or care that he has no idea.
I'm starting to get scared that people (probably mostly old people and others who always vote against their own best interests) are really going to vote for him and this thing will happen.
Itzpapalotl
Damn Straight, Munchy- This is why people like Romney have no idea
In mormonism, we were taught "those who have the best toys are the best!"
Again, I have no answers. Only ideas,
munchybotaz
Yep, if you're white and born in America, and Mormon, and you were born into a family that was already Mormon, AND you're financially well off
you're the best of the best of the best of the best of the best.
munchybotaz
... and
all you working-class fuckers are JUST JEALOUS!!! Especially the ones who don't have jobs.
They don't want me back
Just like the Mormon elite, they believe their own lies
It makes it sooo much easier to look at yourself in the mirror if you have no conscience, to believe the lies and rationalizations you tell yourself to justify the exploitation and or manipulation while taking advantage of others or the system.
He is just like the CEO’s of the Mormon Church he belongs to.
1. Believe your own lies.
2. Peddle and promote those lies as facts
3. Put down any who don’t buy into it as uninformed or unintelligent or envious!
4. Reward those who support you with praise and tell them what they want to hear and make promises you will never fulfill.
They don't want me back
Amen!
They don't want me back
Oh, he must have been especially righteous in the pre-existence
it have been born into such favorable circumstances.He was born to be powerful and wealthy. God ordained it.
summer
Re: This country is going through tough times
J. Chan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm curious what you mean when you talk about the American Dream and why you contrast it with used cars and inexpensive clothes.
I actually agree with you about the materialism. I never have the latest nor best of anything, and I am okay with that. Up until a few years ago, I drove a car that finally died after twenty-one years on the road.
As far as "doing good" and "improving the lot of [one's] fellow man," well, that's what I do for a living.
I do feel extremely sour at present, and that is after five years of an essentially flat salary and near constant put-downs of teachers from people in the business sector and the media. Teachers work extremely hard (my work weeks have averaged 53-63 hours for most of my career,) and for not a great deal of renumeration (see the reference to the twenty-one year old car above. I have also gone without most luxuries and needed home repairs since the recession hit.)
As I stated above, despite my complaints I'm aware that I'm one of the lucky ones. Plenty of families have suffered far, far worse than I have.
Yes, there does need to be overall reward for a given investment in education and training. That's the whole point of our economic system. The Romneys of the world do not begrudge themselves rewards for education and hard work. The middle and lower classes may spend their money foolishly, *but that doesn't mean that they don't need it*. The savings rate in the USA, especially for retirement, is still abysmal.
Economic policies in our country have increasingly concentrated wealth into the hands of the few. There is a great deal of anger among the working and middle classes at present, and I believe that it is justified.
As for my urban students, I am one of the few models in their lives of an educated, professional adult. They're not stupid, and they can't see the payoff. I'm just stating the obvious.
Camara
Re: Just what we need, Moral judgments from Mitt R
This weeks New Yorker took a rip at him, making fun of how he says,"Congratulations" constantly to people he meets on the campaign trail. "You're from Pittsburgh? Congratulations. You work at Burger King? Congratulations. You're suffering from severe asthma but have no health insurance? Congrat--" Well you get the idea.
"Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org"